Brett Mason (Queensland, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Minister for Justice and Customs, Senator Ellison. Will the minister update the Senate on the federal government’s commitment to regional cooperation in the fight against transnational crime and terrorism?

Opposition Senators:

Opposition senators interjecting—

Paul Calvert (President) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

When those on my left have come to order, I will call the minister, but not before.

Chris Ellison (WA, Liberal Party, Minister for Justice and Customs) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

This is a very important question because it involves initiatives in the region by the Howard government in relation to the fight against transnational crime and terrorism. Just last week I signed an agreement with the foreign affairs minister of the Philippines, Mr Romulo, in relation to air security officers travelling between our two countries. That was part of an election commitment. We now have in place air security officer agreements with Singapore and the United States. I think it is significant that in this regard Australia held for the first time the world conference on air security officers, in Canberra. That is significant because it recognises the esteem in which we are held in relation to our ASO program.

Opposition Senators:

Opposition senators interjecting—

Chris Ellison (WA, Liberal Party, Minister for Justice and Customs) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I realise that the opposition are not interested in the fight against transnational crime.

Nick Sherry (Tasmania, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Banking and Financial Services) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

We are!

Chris Ellison (WA, Liberal Party, Minister for Justice and Customs) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

They should listen, then. We also talked about sex trafficking, the sexual exploitation of women and children, which might be of some interest to the opposition, and about the fight against illicit drugs. We have a situation in our region where there is a growth of amphetamine type stimulants and their trafficking. We also have the issue of the sexual exploitation of women and children. Those were key issues that I raised with my counterparts in Singapore and the Philippines. I also had discussions with the Singaporean government on our mutual assistance negotiations, which are crucial for the exchange of information in the fight against terrorism and transnational crime.

As well as that, I visited the bomb data centre in the Philippines, to which we contributed over $5 million and which has been a major boost to the Philippine National Police in the fight against terrorism in that country. I also had Customs with me. We have an initiative in the south of that country which deals with the Macassar Strait and the Sulu-Celebes Sea, where there is heightened terrorist activity and where we are working with the authorities in Malaysia, Indonesia and the Philippines to control what is a very dangerous area of terrorist related activity. I am talking about places such as Mindanao and Zamboanga.

If we are to protect Australia’s interests, it is important that we take the fight offshore. It is important that we have forward engagement in the region, in the South-East Asian region in particular, in the cooperation between law enforcement agencies in matters of security and the fight against transnational crime. We have seen great cooperation with the Philippines in the detection of precursor chemicals, which can be used to manufacture large quantities of amphetamine type stimulants. We have seen great cooperation in the fight against terrorism. Of course, the AFP is there, advising the region on a number of terrorist related incidents which have occurred in the Philippines. We saw the thwarted attempt in Singapore, where it was intended that there be an attack on our high commission, the British high commission and the United States high commission some years ago. It was the very good work of the Singaporean authorities that resulted in the thwarting of that attack.

We cannot succeed in the fight against these very important issues on our own. Australia cannot stand alone. We need to work closely with our neighbours in South-East Asia. The visit I had last week to the Philippines and Singapore was just another step forward in the great collaboration and cooperation that we have with law enforcement in the region in fighting transnational crime and terrorism.